Today marks the last day of the Beverley Clark era on the school board.
Clark said the one thing she'll consider to be her biggest legacy will be her advocacy for equity for older schools. As noted in today's article, Clark was a strong proponent of making sure that older schools got renovations to bring them closer to par with new schools.
"There are still schools that are quite old that need to be addressed," Clark said. "But we're closing the gap."
Clark argues that before she joined the board in 1999, Wake was only focused on building new schools. She said existing schools just got "band aids" instead of needed renovations.
Clark helped ensure that more than $360 million of the current $1.056 billion building program was spent on existing schools. Several schools, including Lacy Elementary, got facelifts.
Hope Carmichael, a Lacy parent and head of Wake Families For School Choice, said Clark is definitely getting an invitation to Lacy's Aug. 24 rededication ceremony. She credits Clark for making sure that Lacy wasn't overlooked for renovations.
Not everyone thinks the spending on renovations has been so good.
During the 2006 bond campaign, critics such as Americans for Prosperity and the John Locke Foundation questioned why Wake wanted to spend so much on renovations as opposed to new schools.
Terry Stoops, an education policy analyst for the Locke Foundation, said Clark's advocacy for the inside the Beltline schools came at the expense of students attending more crowded schools outside the Beltline.
Stoops said he hopes Clark's successor won't be as adamant about spending money on renovations.
Comments
Did Ms. Clark ever give a
Fri, 08/14/2009 - 11:31 — changewcpssDid Ms. Clark ever give a reason for quitting before her term was up? She appeared to be one of 2 who used facts to base her decisions. Wasn't she the one who studied Leesville and led the effort against wasting money on their conversion? Perhaps she was tired of false data being used to force unjustified changes?
Did Ms. Clark ever give a
Fri, 08/14/2009 - 11:31 — changewcpssDid Ms. Clark ever give a reason for quitting before her term was up? She appeared to be one of 2 who used facts to base her decisions. Wasn't she the one who studied Leesville and led the effort against wasting money on their conversion? Perhaps she was tired of false data being used to force unjustified changes?
EQUITY!!!!
Fri, 08/14/2009 - 09:27 — choice4allAre you kidding me????!!!!Yup, congrats to the inner beltline. I am so happy that a BOE member fought for their district and not FORCE all their children into YEAR ROUND.Thank you Patti for that! Thanks Bev for making sure YOUR district gets a brand new school on a Traditional calander and a HUGE Thank you for voting for Year Round in the other districts, forcing those children on a YR calendar and going in trailers in cramped classrooms. Thank you so much and big Kudos on the opening ceremony. Thanks Hope for hanging in there when you found out you were getting the renovation. Nice! (sarcasm will stay on until October).
"There are still schools
Fri, 08/14/2009 - 09:15 — shearertw"There are still schools that are quite old that need to be addressed," Clark said. "But we're closing the gap."
Ahh...Now I understand Clark's confusion. When someone said we need school "innovation" to "close the (student achievement) gap" she thought they said school "renovation".